


the shape of us

by silver_wings



Category: Holby City
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Elinor Lives, Family, Fluff, Multi, OT3, OT4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:36:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_wings/pseuds/silver_wings
Summary: an unexpected family slowly knits itself together





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this was born from my brain thinking about Cameron/Jasmine/Morven and snowballed from a random one-shot into the longest thing i've ever written. this has not been beta'd, so i apologise for an mistakes.
> 
> it's mostly random, happy, family stuff to distract me from canon.

**one.**

Cameron Dunn was back at Holby. When he left for London, this was the last thing he was expecting. He had truly thought he’d only move on to bigger and better things, not go backwards as it were, but he had surprised himself. He thought he wanted the bright lights of the big city and all the benefits that came from a big fancy hospital, but he found he actually wanted the complete opposite. 

He couldn’t deny that London was fast paced and exciting, and he was working around some of the leading doctors in their field, but he soon discovered how isolating it was. He didn’t seem to make friends as quickly as he had in Holby, instead went home to a sad empty flat rather than enjoying the little time he had away from the hospital.

The last thing he thought was that he would miss the sense of community he felt in Holby, the ability to know everyone’s name, walk up to the roof and find at least one other person to vent to or commiserate with. He missed the camaraderie he had with his colleagues, joking around during shifts, grabbing coffees at pulses, drowning their sorrows at the end of the day at Albie’s.

Despite feeling like a child admitting this, he missed his mum. Having gone so long in his childhood with her out of reach, it had been something of a novelty to see her everyday, even if that was a quick hello at shift change. It had been a comfort knowing she’d be there to encourage him, talk him up to her colleagues, or to comfort him when his day wasn’t the best. 

This surprised him considering he _had_ gone so long with her on the very outskirts of his life, so it wasn’t until he left that he realised how much he had come to rely on her presence, even with him keeping her at arms length. He missed learning from her, seeing her in her element, being able to witness and be a part of this better, happier version of his mother that he’d never experienced before. 

Not that he’d tell her that she factored into his decision to return at all.

X

After the 'catfishing’ incident, Morven found it difficult to look Jasmine in the eye. Partly because she was so angry about being mislead, and then because there was the small part of her that feared looking at her would only encourage the less than PG dreams that had been plaguing her recently. 

While she had meant some of what she had said to Jasmine to some degree, that she need help to move past issues she had buried deep, Morven could recognise in this case that Jasmine had only good intentions, even if her execution was a little off.

After the revelation that it was Jasmine she was messaging instead of a random stranger, Morven’s subconscious had decided to unleash and uncover an attraction to Jasmine that she had previously not realised. She found herself confused by the relief she felt when she discovered that she had been opening herself up to her friend instead of some random stranger. 

Now that the truth was out her mind conjured up images of Jasmine saying everything 'Nathan’ had said. Morven thought about the vulnerability the conversations had brought out in each of them and while she was rightfully angry, she missed the level of candour their conversations had facilitated. 

Perhaps what Morven was most worried about was that Jasmine _had_ only been doing this out of some misguided attempt to help her move forward, and didn’t feel anything for her beyond friendship.

It wasn’t until weeks after the fact when Morven got sick of avoiding Jasmine that she got the answer she was looking for. 

X

Morven entered the break room to find Jasmine absentmindedly flipping through a magazine. When the other woman noticed her former housemate enter she quickly stood up and practically tried to run out of the room. As Jasmine rushed past her Morven grabbed her wrist to stop her.

'Jasmine, I’m sorry I overreacted. Well, not overreacted because I’m still upset that you didn’t tell me earlier, and I stand by some of what I said. But I am sorry that I’ve been so angry,’ Jasmine shook her head emphatically, while looking at her shoes.

'No I’m sorry, I had no right. Everything you said about me is true, I’m a horrible person and you have every right to be pissed, I’m really, really sorry,’ Morven held tighter to the Jasmine’s wrist, only loosening her grip when she finally lifted her head. 

'I forgive you. You are not a horrible person,’ Morven smiled slightly hoping to ease the tension, but this only made Jasmine avoid her gaze again.

‘I’ve really missed talking to you the last few weeks. I’ve missed you at the house and being able to drink ourselves stupid after a tough shift, and it’s been weird not joking around at work.’ 

It was now Morven’s turn to avert her eyes and concentrate on the floor, ‘And I guess, if I’m honest…I’ve also missed talking to you as 'Nathan’.’

Jasmine’s head shot up, Morven still seriously studying a spot on the linoleum floor.

'Really…I mean, what do you mean?’

'I mean, sorry this might sound stupid, but I missed having that person to rant to and be close to. Not a just as a friend or a colleague, but someone who’s just there for me, to listen to anything I have to say. I haven’t had that since Arthur died.’

At this point Morven finally worked up the nerve to look at Jasmine, ‘It wasn’t that I was angry that it was _you_. I’m more upset that you felt you had to lie about it.’

Jasmine was so nervous she felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest, 'What are you saying?’

'I guess I’m trying to say that, I liked sharing that part of myself with you, I’ve found myself thinking about you differently. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, it’s stupid…’

Morven’s next word was stopped when Jasmine pressed her lips against hers, Jasmine started to pull away fearing she had read the situation completely wrong until Morven pulled her closer and caught Jasmine’s lower lip between hers. 

Morven could feel Jasmine begin to smile and stifle a laugh, and took that as an opportunity to kiss her harder. They remained like that until Morven couldn’t help herself smiling, and pulled back before they both dissolved into laughter, both women suddenly feeling a weight leave their shoulders. Still holding on to Jasmine’s wrist, Morven started rubbing circles with her thumb, encouraging the words she could sense on the tip of Jasmine’s tongue. 

'Was that okay?’ Morven could hear the fear in Jasmine’s voice, worried she’d fucked up again.

'More than okay. If you want to, if you’re sick of the on-call room, you should move back home, I miss you.’ Morven looked Jasmine in the eye for the first time in weeks, hoping she would she would see she was completely serious about this. 

'Just try and stop me.’ 

Jasmine had the biggest smile on her face that anyone had seen in weeks and before she could think about it, kissed Morven again and practically bounced out of the break room.

X

When Cameron made the move back to Holby, he found himself in a tricky situation. His former lodgings were out of the question; his former roommates were not the people conducive to the level of calm he needed if he wanted to take his work seriously. Moving in with his Dad was not an option, things had been decidedly awkward since he had begun to work with his mother and had given his father a frank assessment of how manipulated he had felt during the divorce. 

Living with his mother was also out of the question. Yes he had missed her while in London, but he wasn’t past the point of needing her in that aspect of her life, and since she had officially moved in with Serena since he’d been in London, he didn’t think it would do anything for his reputation to be living under the same roof as both his bosses. 

This was where Morven and Jasmine came to the rescue.

X 

‘Arggghhh.’ Cameron slammed the computer mouse into the desk and rolled himself away from the computer.

‘Ooh, what seems to be the problem Mummy’s boy?’ Jasmine smiled as her rolled her eyes at the nickname she insisted on using.

‘I’ve been rejected for the flat I applied for. That’s the second one this week, at this rate I’ll be living on Mum and Serena’s sofa forever.’

‘Well, you know, Morven and I have a perfectly good couch at ours and if you’re not to adverse to sofa’s in general, you’re more than welcome to it.’ Cameron unexpectedly reached out and hugged Jasmine over the desk, surprising both her and himself.

‘You have no idea how good that sounds, it’s way too awkward seeing Mum and Serena all domestic and lovey-dovey. I mean, I’m happy for them, but since they’re technically my bosses as well, it’s all very weird.’

‘Say no more. I’ll let Morven know and you can bring your stuff round tonight.’

X

It was Cameron actually got to Morven and Jasmine’s, that he realised he’d been slightly mislead. While Jasmine had originally offered the couch, he essentially got Jasmine’s room. Since, as he found out when he arrived later that evening, Morven and Jasmine were, unbeknownst to anyone else, in a relationship and had given up the pretence of having separate bedrooms. 

Cameron had to take his hat off to them for keeping their relationship a secret, since this was the kind of thing that would spread through the hospital like wildfire. The perks of already living together he guessed. While he was thrilled to learn of their relationship, he feared feeling like a third wheel and making the whole situation awkward and uncomfortable. It would turn out that this would not be an issue at all.

X

It was about two months into Cameron living there, that he began to feel like he was intruding into Morven and Jasmine’s lives. Not only was he keeping their secret at work, he felt guilty about being in their personal space at home as well. This was not at all helped by the fact that he may have developed the tiniest, or if he was honest, a massive, all consuming crush on both the women in question.

At first he felt ashamed, like he was feeding into the stereotype of creepy men using a relationship between two women as his own personal fantasy, but after properly thinking it through and recognising he genuinely felt an immense affection and care for both of the women separately, he felt guilty that he was using his position as their roommate to only nurture these unrequited feelings.

Cameron began to try and distance himself from them in an attempt to get over his crush and not accidently stuff up their friendship, but with both living and working together he found that increasingly difficult. It was made all the more difficult when Morven and Jasmine noticed his evasiveness. 

X

‘Do you not like living here?’ Cameron felt his palms begin to sweat when Jasmine blurted this out during a commercial break of a show he had zoned out of an hour ago.

‘What makes you say that?’ Morven decided to take over the impromptu interrogation now.

‘Well, for starters, you seem to avoid talking to us at work, unless you absolutely need to. You escape to the roof on your breaks, which from experience we know is a Wolfe family trait when you’re avoiding something. Even now, you look agitated and uncomfortable, so what is it? If you don’t want to live here, don’t feel obligated to. It’s been nice having you here, but we don’t want you thinking of it like a life sentence.’

Cameron felt his whole mouth go dry. He had to answer them honestly he knew, they would know he was lying if he didn’t. He just cared for them both so much, he didn’t want them to feel like he was creepy or hate him, he really couldn’t bear that. 

He had to answer them, they were staring at him and weren’t going to let this go, and the longer he waited, the worse it would be. He ended ignoring the voice in his head telling him to lie and just blurted it out.

‘I have a crush on you.’

‘What? On who?’ Cameron could see they were both a bit shell-shocked, and he wasn’t sure whether that was down to what he had said, or the fact that he had basically yelled it at them.

‘Umm, both of you,’ he saw their faces when he revealed this and instantly regretted it.

‘I’m sorry, I know that’s totally inappropriate and I promise I don’t have some weird fantasies about the two of you or anything. I just like you both a lot, and I know you’re together, so nothing would happen. I’ll move out. I’ll go now if you want. Oh, god, I’m sorry I’ve made this weird, I hope we can still be friends, but I totally get if you don’t want to. I’ll go pack now.’

X

Cameron leapt of the couch, it was the fastest he’s ever moved in his life, but he need to get out before he saw the look of disgust on their faces. He got to his bedroom and started haphazardly throwing anything he could grab into a bag, wanting to leave before they inevitably chucked him out. 

He vaguely heard the call his name, and then heard footsteps in the hallway. He started moving faster, wanting to be ready to go after they yelled at him. Maybe he’d go and crash at this dad’s house after all, it would no doubt be less awkward than staying here. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t hear the two women enter.  
Morven walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop grabbing at the clothes littering his bedroom floor.

‘Cam, stop, you don’t have to do this,’ he looked up at her tentatively smiling, and then to Jasmine leaning against the door with a reassuring grin.

‘Yes, I do. I’ve made it weird and ruined everything. It’s easier if I just leave.’ Jasmine moved from the doorway and pushed back to sit on the bed, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

‘No you don’t, you haven’t ruined anything. Did it ever occur to you that we like you too?’ Jasmine looked at him, then over to Morven who was now also trying to be reassuring.

Cameron let his head fall into his hands and shook his head.

‘It’s not the same. You like me as a friend, and I hate to say it, but it’s not the same. Don’t you get that, aren’t you listening?’ 

Morven chuckled slightly, which made him want the earth to swallow him up. They thought he was ridiculous. He may as well take a leaf out of his mother’s book and flee to the Ukraine, although he didn’t think that would be far enough to escape the humiliation.

‘Cameron, we know what you’re saying. You’re not listening to us, we _like_ like you too. Why do you think we let you in on our secret? We care about you too, and if you want we can figure something out, the three of us.’

Morven and Jasmine smiled at each other and loosely held hands over him, and then went to each grab one of Cameron’s, which were still cradling his face in embarrassment. He looked at them sceptically, convincing himself this was just a very vivid dream his mind has inflicted on him. But, this all felt to real and instead he thought he was stuck in some bizarre twilight zone.

‘You can’t mean what I think you mean. That’s not how it works, it cant be done,’ despite how lovely it felt to be holding the hands of the objects of his affections, he tried to remove himself of their grasp, not wanting to get used to the warm feeling spreading across his chest.

‘Anyway, what would people say, they wouldn’t accept it, and you can’t be serious.’ Cameron began to panic slightly, thinking about the trouble he was causing and the horrible prospect of losing his two best friends to his illicit feelings. Jasmine let go of his hand and started rubbing his back.

‘We are serious, as a heart attack, which is what you’re going to give yourself if you don’t calm down.’ Morven copied Jasmine’s gesture and they were both silent until they visibly saw Cameron relax.

‘But, how would it even work, I mean…’ Cameron’s face looked so pained and worried that Jasmine couldn’t help laughing and raising her eyebrows suggestively, which made Morven burst out laughing and eventually made Cameron laugh and roll his eyes.

‘Stop. You know what I mean,’ for the first time he spoke with a smile and hope etched on his face.

‘Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out,’ Morven assured him before wrapped her arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. Jasmine did the same and ruffled his hair slightly to relive the tension in the room. It worked because Cameron let out a laugh of relief and unexpected joy, moving his hands to hold on to each women’s arm and letting the surprising events of the night wash over him.


	2. Chapter 2

**two.**

Their situation starts off rather clumsily. While Morven and Jasmine are already comfortable enough with each other, Cameron finds it difficult to let his guard down, as well as letting go of the feeling that he’s intruding.

The first night, they sleep. They end up tangled together on Cameron’s bed and it’s only because he’s so exhausted that he manages not to completely freak out and over-analyse the situation.

Weeks later they have all mostly gotten used to each other, but both women notice how tentative Cameron still is when it comes to anything intimate. He’ll be less than forthcoming about his desires, instead letting Jasmine or Morven take the lead, and while they enjoy taking charge, they notice that he still thinks he’s not equal to them. 

Rather than voice their concerns and risk embarrassing him, Jasmine takes it upon herself to work him up to the point of no return in the hopes that he’ll take the hint and let himself go. 

X

Not one to shy away from a challenge, about a month into their new relationship, Jasmine finds herself brashly pulling him down on top of her, grabbing the back of his head and kissing him roughly. Eventually he starts to relax in to it, his fingers toying with the bottom of Jasmine’s shirt. Not wanting him to shy away again, Jasmine grabs his hand, shoves it under her shirt and places it on her breast, squeezing on top of his hand until he relaxes and takes control. 

Satisfied with the development, Jasmine sits up and pushes until Cameron is laid on his back. Morven uses this opportunity to remove Jasmine’s shirt and her own, before hovering over Jasmine’s back and kissing down her spine. It’s the soft hum that escapes Jasmine’s lips then which seems to spur Cameron on, finally letting go if his insecurities, and finally giving in to what he wants.

Despite the slow start, that night truly marks the beginning of their new normal, with all three of them feeling more and more happy with their arrangement as time goes on.

X

At work they try not to make it obvious that anything has changed. It’s not too difficult since no one has yet to realise Morven and Jasmine have been together for months, so any sign of changes between the three of them has just been put down to housemates bonding. 

Bernie and Serena however have caught on to the scent that something has changed, even if they both wildly disagree on what exactly that is.

X

‘I still think there’s something going on between Cam and Morven. I said so last year, and I say so now, I’d put good money on it.’ Serena rolled her eyes at Bernie’s adamant nod.

‘Firstly, do you not at all see how weird it is to bet on your son’s sex life. And, secondly, you are obviously wrong, if Cameron is sleeping with anyone, it’s Jasmine. Have you not noticed the looks between them across the ward?’

‘Looks? Looks? Is that all you’ve got? Morven and Cam are practically hanging off each other, they couldn’t be more obvious if they tried.’ Serena felt a grin take over her face at her partner’s insistence, and decided it couldn’t hurt to encourage this, quite frankly, adorable childishness. 

‘Fine, you think you’re so smart. Time to put your money where your mouth is Ms. Wolfe. You say Morven, I say Jasmine, winner buys the other dinner, and takes over the household chores, which includes making dinner and teaching Jason how to cook said meals.’ 

Bernie groaned slightly, knowing teaching Jason meant needing to be constantly ready to answer all his questions, as well as the process taking an hour longer than usual due to his desire to read through a recipe out loud, as well as accurately measuring out every ingredient before they even started cooking. This was the last thing Bernie wanted to be doing at the end of a long shift, but she was so confident, and wanted so much to wipe the smug look off Serena’s face that she agreed.

X

It wasn’t unusual for Cameron, Jasmine and Morven to go round to Bernie and Serena’s for dinner. Cameron insisted it was only to see his mother outside of work, but Bernie knew, more often than not it was because none of them had wanted to go grocery shopping. Her point was proved when there was a whole week Cameron insisted on ‘quality time’ with the bosses after a week of the three of them being on double shifts.

So, when Cameron came around alone one night, saying he wanted to discuss something with the two of them, Bernie was sure this was the night she could smugly tell Serena she was right and reap all the rewards.

The three of them had decided that Cameron should be the one to spill the beans, insisting that he had blood on his side and they couldn’t be too upset with him, and Jasmine and Morven were ever so slightly scared of Ms. Wolfe and Ms. Campbell. Also what Morven failed to mention to Cam, was that Serena had been less than thrilled when she first learnt of her relationship with Arthur, and Morven wasn’t quite ready for another lecture about workplace relationships, even if it would be extremely hypocritical under the current circumstances. 

X

‘Mum. Serena. There’s something I need to talk to you about. I probably should have told you sooner, because it’s going to affect you both as my bosses. But, just so you know we wanted to be sure this was permanent before we rocked the boat.’ 

Cameron’s heart was beating faster than he thought possible and he was so close to chickening out and running out the front door. On the sofa opposite him, Bernie sat up a little straighter, ready to jump up and announce her victory, but tried to keep the look of excitement off her face when she saw how nervous Cameron looked. Cameron took a deep breath and looked down at his lap.

‘Here goes, I’m in a new relationship,’ he looked up and saw the eager looks on his mum and her partner’s face, quickly hiding his face again. He knew he had to get this over with, but couldn’t quite look them in the eye yet.

‘For about four months, I have been in a relationship with Morven…and Jasmine.’ 

There was complete silence for what felt like hours, and when he couldn’t take it anymore he looked up to see the obvious surprise on their faces.

‘Well?’ Cameron knew his mother wasn’t a big ‘talker’, but he thought she could at least put him out of his misery.

Bernie looked from Cameron’s worried expression to Serena’s equally shocked and puzzled one, back to Cameron who looked closer to running out of the room by the second. Bernie looks at Serena with a similarly puzzled look and whines slightly.

‘But, who wins?’


	3. Chapter 3

**three.**

Dom moves in soon after Jasmine, Cameron and Morven’s relationship goes public. 

Since finally extracting himself from Isaac’s manipulative clutches Dom has felt like he’s been stuck in a sort of limbo. It had been a month since the reality of Isaac’s abuse became common knowledge and since then Dom has felt like he has only just been able to keep his head above water.

X

Zosia was the first to feel brave enough to as Dom about Isaac’s treatment of him. Since she accidentally saw the bruising around her friend’s ribs, she had been working up the nerve to bring it up with him, but found herself more worried that he would brush it off and fall further into a hole.

At first, just like Zosia had expected, Dom tried to fob her off and convince her she was making a bigger deal of this than what it was. 

It didn’t take long for him to crumble under Zosia’s stare, she tried to look stern while showing him that she was there for him, and it seemed to work. He broke; sliding down the wall he had cornered himself in to. Zosia was quick to gather him up into her arms while he began to sob uncontrollably, holding on to her for dear life. 

X

Word spread around fairly quickly after that.

Dom found himself overwhelmed with kind words, pats on the back, shoulder squeezes. There was Zosia and Sacha who refused to hold back, giving him bone-crushing hugs which lasted just that slight bit too long. People like Essie and Raf were slightly more reserved, but gave him meaningful looks meant to convey what they couldn’t quite say.

Most surprisingly, and perhaps for that reason the most comforting, was the hug Bernie gave him when she saw him on the roof for the first time following the ordeal. Along with the unexpected hug came the whisper in his ear that if needed, she knew a few former army blokes who could dispose of a body no questions asked, which was what assured Dom that she Bernie was in fact herself.

Dom was inundated with offers of a sofa to crash on, items of food or drink were constantly finding their way into his hands or left at the nurses station with his name on it. Texts offering support or the means of getting support were offered in spades. 

It was much later, after he’d been back at work for a few weeks, that Dom discovered Isaac had found himself under the formidable stares of Sacha and Essie, which was their diplomatic way of telling him to ‘fuck off out of here, or else’, a point that had only been further demonstrated by the toe-curling glare of Henrik Hanssen looking down at Isaac from his tower. 

Needless to say, no one had heard from him since.

X

While on personal leave Dom found himself at the mercy of ‘mother hen’ Sacha, forced into a spare bedroom and force-fed comfort foods until he had to warn Sacha off. 

Zosia was there for the movie marathons, his head in her lap, crying his eyes out. He flitted between friend’s houses, and at one point took an extended leave of absence to stay with his parents, which to his surprise was exactly what he needed. 

Upon his return he has numerous people checking up on him, subtly asking if he’s taking care of his mental health along with his physical health. Checking and double checking that he was okay to be back at work, making him promise that he would tell them immediately if he needed anything.

He was grateful for their concern, but the constant scrutiny got old very quickly.

This was part of the reason he found himself crashing at Morven, Jasmine and Cameron’s, the other factor was that Zosia and Ollie only had a sofa, and he now knew from the rumour mill, that there was an actual bed going begging at theirs. 

The other deciding factor had been that, while the three of them had been just as supportive as everyone else, they seemed the only ones he felt weren’t constantly sending him looks filled with pity or trying to fuss over him. He felt he could let go around them and for a little while forget about his troubles. 

Dom knows he’s made the right decision when he wakes up in the middle of the night, trying to stifle his cries into a pillow, and feels an arm around his waist, then another, followed by a hand on his cheek wiping away his tears. He manages to fall asleep though before he notices the third person curled up at his feet, almost as if they’re keeping watch.

It was after this that people started to see the return of the old Dom.

X

It was all going so well until Dom goes and ruins it.

Dom just has to go and break the cardinal rule and fall for a straight guy, and not _just_ a straight guy, a straight guy who already has two girlfriends, which in his mind tells Dom everything he needs to know.

X

It’s his moping around the house that tips them off that something is wrong. Dom arrives home from work and his quick to escape to his bedroom, only leaving with enough time to use the bathroom, or grab some food, before he’s shut the door to the world.

Cameron decides after a week of this behaviour to pry, hoping to get Dom back to the happy, sociable guy he had been only a couple of weeks before.  
Dom is nervous when he hears the knock at his door, knows he can’t avoid this any longer.

‘Come in.’

‘Hey, are you okay? You’ve been really quiet and evasive lately, and we’re worried. It’s not Isaac is it? Cause we’ll kick his sorry arse into next week, and if I ring Mum she’ll find a hole to dump him in.’ 

Dom couldn’t help smiling at Cameron’s concern, before telling himself that he needed to stop, that Cam didn’t like him _that_ way.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just you know long days.’ 

‘Really? Because the last time someone in this house was like this, it was because I was freaking out over having a crush on the girls,’ Cameron chuckled slightly at the memory, but quickly stopped when he noticed the look of guilt on Dom’s face.

‘Is that it? Is that why you’re avoiding us?’

Dom nodded and waited to be let down gently, but was shocked when Cameron moved closer to him, grabbed the back of Dom’s neck and kissed him square on the lips. Dom let himself get caught up in the kiss, reminded of things he hadn’t felt since before Isaac had arrived on the scene, until he remembered _who_ he was kissing.

‘Wait, stop, we can’t do this, you’re taken, by two people,’ Dom pushed Cameron away, trying to rid his head of the memory of the kiss.

‘Exactly,’ Cameron smiled as Dom looked at him accusingly.

‘Exactly what?’

‘I already have two girlfriends, who says I can’t have a boyfriend as well,’ moving across the room to where Dom stood, Cameron hesitantly went to hold Dom’s hand between his own.

‘This makes no sense. What would Morven and Jasmine think? It’s absolutely ridiculous.’

‘Well, if you must know, we’ve already discussed it. I may have told them about a teeny, tiny crush I had on you and they basically told me to go for it.’  
Dom was confused. This was the most bizarre conversation he’d ever had. The rational part of his brain was telling him this was not happening, he was just having a weird dream. Yet, the illogical, ‘dreamer’, part of his brain was telling him to kiss this beautiful man who was saying he liked him.

‘So, let me get this straight. You want to be in a relationship with Morven _and_ Jasmine, and what sleep with me on the side.’

‘No, I don’t want to ‘sleep with you on the side’, as you put it so eloquently. I want a relationship with you too, and to tell you the truth, Morven and Jasmine love you too. They know you don’t want to sleep with them, but in every other sense they want a relationship with you too. But, if it’s too weird, I totally understand.’

Dom’s mind was racing; he didn’t know what he should be thinking. Here was this wonderful, caring, beautiful man offering him an actual loving relationship, with not one, but three people. What he couldn’t quite wrap his head around was anyone wanting him, let alone two that wouldn’t even be getting sex out of it, and the other, who already had two beautiful women on his arm wanting a broken, worthless man like himself.

His decision was made though when Cam began to turn away to leave the room, looking dejected.

Dom had no idea how this would work, or whether it _would_ work, but he knew he’d be an absolute idiot to pass this opportunity up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apparently avoiding uni work is the best motivator 
> 
> (as is trying to ignore the looming new episode)


	4. Chapter 4

**four.**

Jac’s only reaction to hearing about her half sister’s arrangement is to snort and say,

'How you have managed to rope one person into putting up with you, let alone three, I’ll never know. Tell them good luck from me.’ 

Jasmine figures it’s better than outright revulsion or further rejection, so decides to take what she can get.

Months later Jasmine hears through the grapevine that her sister had cornered and terrified a gossiping nurse in the hallway, threatening certain pain if she continued, so perhaps Jac didn’t hate her as much as Jasmine thought.

X

When Cameron tells Marcus about his relationship, his father is less than thrilled, while he doesn’t say it outright, Cameron later hears from charlotte that he has been suggesting that their mother is partly to blame for his sons ‘lifestyle’. Cameron and Charlotte have previously discussed their parent’s divorce and the subsequent rift it caused with their mother, mostly at their father’s hand.

They had both debated why their father felt the need to convince them to insult their mother’s name in the letters, and settled on it was the fact that their father was jealous. Jealous that Bernie had seemingly been unaffected by the prospect of a divorce and had not crumbled at come running back to him. They also believed he was jealous that Bernie could find comfort with another woman, when he, even if inclined to cheat, had had no interest from any third parties.

X

Since the divorce the Dunn children felt bitter towards their father, especially with the divorce and the letters reminding them that over the years their father has tried to push Bernie out of their lives.

It’s this that prompts Charlotte to finally move out of the family home, first crashing at her brother and his partners, and then eventually moving in with Bernie and Serena when she begins to feel like the fifth wheel. 

Charlotte has seen how close Cameron and his partners were with their mother and her partner and nephew, and realised how desperately she wanted to be included in the family fold. She quickly became best friends with Jasmine, Morven and Dom, and leads them in relentlessly teasing her brother, with Charlotte often telling his most embarrassing childhood stories, just to see his ears burn red.

X

Bernie is over the moon at this development, as is Jason, happy to have someone else to talk to who isn’t tired from work at the end of the day.

From then on family dinners become even more of a regular thing, with Cameron, jasmine, Morven and Dom joining the four of them, which also sometimes includes Raf, Fletch and the Fletchlings. In the same way Bernie was insistent that Cameron like Morven, Serena was just as convinced that Fletch and Raf were hopelessly in love, but didn’t know what to do about it. Serena hope inviting them to these dinners may inspire them to turn their own unconventional situation into a more permanent thing.

X

After Elinor’s accident, which luckily only left her with a minor brain injury was the catalyst for her and Serena’s relationship to reach a breaking point. Serena’s anger over Elinor’s recklessness, which seriously injured Jason and could have very well killed him, places a wedge between them unlike any other, 

In the weeks following the accident Elinor’s drug use came to light, as well as her debts, which only further broke apart the mother and daughter. Elinor became defensive and decided to move in with her father and Liberty where she thought she’d get more sympathy. To Elinor, and Serena’s surprise, Edward isn’t as easy on her as they expected, even Liberty is less that forgiving of her actions, something for which Serena will be eternally grateful.

It’s the lack of sympathy that prompts Elinor to enter rehab and start to put her life back together. During this time she decides to cut off all contact with her parents and friends, except for the occasional text purely to let them know she is ok. 

While Serena understands Elinor’s decision, is proud of her for getting help, it does cause her to clam up and throw herself into her work, because there’s that small nagging part of her brain telling her she’s failed her daughter in yet another way.

Bernie is on hand to remind her how big a step this is for Elinor and if she needs to be alone to do it Serena needs to respect that and give her that space. Bernie reminds her that trying to interfere may only increase their estrangement, that Serena needs to prove to Elinor that she supports her and trusts that she can do it.

X

After her rehab finishes, she ends up being in rehab for close to five months, Elinor is almost back to normal, save for a few moments that her brain injury slows her thinking and comprehension, which frustrates her, and results In her taking out her frustrations out on the closest person.

She decides to move in with her mother and Bernie and is surprised to find herself feeling more comfortable than she thinks she has ever felt. 

Moving back home allows her to finally notice how happy her mum is, and Elinor realises how unhappy her mother was for so many years. Seeing her mother in this new environment pushes Elinor to forgive her for what she originally thought was her mother not caring, but what was instead her mum caring too much about too many people and not knowing how to do anything by halves.

X

Her jealousy rears it’s ugly early into her moving in. 

She’s jealous thinking her mum has replaced her with new people, people she seems to be more open with than she ever has been with her daughter. Jealous of Bernie and Charlotte’s relationship, the apparent ease they have with each other and Bernie’s willingness to do anything for her daughter.

Soon enough Elinor realises is that she is witnessing the restoring of another fractured and tortured mother/daughter relationship, the only difference being Charlotte is actually letting her mum make amends.

She’s jealous of the ease Jason and Charlotte have with Serena, and each other; how comfortable Cameron, Jasmine, Morven and Dom feel about dropping by their house and joking and laughing with Bernie and Serena. Elinor feels like her world has been pulled from underneath her and she’s struggling to put it back together.

X

For the few months since she’s returned everyone gives Elinor a wide berth. She’s irritable and angry at everything and everyone, finding it difficult to be in her family home with all these new people. 

It’s Jason though who her pulls her out of her anger and is the one to help her win her injuries and struggles. 

Jason is the one who talks to her about things she’s having trouble with, what she feels uncomfortable talking to her mum about. While Jason doesn’t struggle in the exact same way, talking to him about his own limitations and struggles with understanding other people and social interactions helps her see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hearing him talk about how his family, especially Serena, has helped him, and how patient they are with him helps Elinor see that she can work through her difficulties and that her mum, and the rest of their jigsaw of a family, are here to help and support her. 

From then on, Elinor makes an effort to mend bridges with Serena and accept the help being offered.


	5. Chapter 5

**five.**

On the anniversary of Arthur’s death Morven and Dom, along with Zosia spend the day together reminiscing, crying and laughing. As time goes on it becomes easier for the three of them to remember Arthur fondly, rather than dwelling on the fact that he’s no longer with them, instead trying to keep his spirit alive knowing that he wouldn’t begrudge them moving on, and wouldn’t want them all wallowing in their grief.

When the time comes for Morven and Dom to return home, it’s to Cameron and Jasmine ready to comfort them both on a pile of blankets and cushions on the living room floor, there to show them love and help them get through their emotions.

X

Despite forgiving her Cameron is still slightly wary about becoming reliant on on his mum being there. After having to say goodbye and send her off so many times in his life, many times not knowing when or if she’d return home, he didn’t want to rely on her only to have that newfound sense of security ripped away from him.  
Cameron and Jasmine bonded over this.

While not quite the same situation, he understood her feelings of abandonment and inadequacy, so it was him who often found himself reassuring her that she was so much more than what her mother (and her sister) thought she was. 

In return Jasmine found herself reassuring Cameron that his mum was here to stay and he should take advantage of the opportunity to get close to her and enjoy a proper relationship with her.

X

Having her children back in her life lead to Bernie making it a habit to have milky buttons always on hand. 

Once she realised this was a childhood memory both her children remembered fondly, she wanted to be able to replicate that feeling whenever needed, hoping this would help if their thoughts ever strayed to thinking about her constant absences.

She kept some in her office at work, and would dole them out to Cameron after a tough day, with the unspoken assurance that she would be there if he need to talk. 

She kept some in the kitchen at home for when Charlotte needed a pick-me-up, whether it being during a gruelling study session, after a tough exam, or following a particularly bad date. Bernie was ready to show that she was here and ready to go. 

On their birthdays and at Christmas, she found herself spraying their cards with her perfume and slipping a few of the treats into the envelope. She wasn’t sure if her children thought she was being daft and were just humouring her, but she swore she saw their eyes light up slightly at the gesture, and that was well worth looking like a sentimental old fool.

X

When they entered this rather unique relationship the four of them were adamant in ensuring they keep the lines of communication well and truly open. 

None of them wanted this all to fall apart just because someone felt awkward about voicing their feelings and opinions. They had all the normal spats and disagreements that happened in any relationship, but were determined not to let big issues fester and become full-blown arguments. 

There was of course the occasional instance of people picking sides with each other, but they did there upmost to not let that effect them later on. Given that they all worked together as well, they tried to not let personal issues seep into patient care and vice versa. 

On the odd occasion, that they did let their personal lives effect their work, they were only human after all, Bernie and Serena were on hand to diffuse the tension and prattle on about how they didn’t bring their personal lives into the workplace and the four of them should take a leaf out of their book. This was followed by Cameron’s muttering.

‘Yeah right, who argued for twenty minutes last week about who left the bread open and let in go mouldy.’ Serena was out of earshot when he started talking but his mum heard every word.

‘THAT WAS ONE TIME CAMERON’. Cameron laughed, relishing in the idea of his mother getting told off.

‘Also, shut up, don’t get her started again. I may have forgotten to put the plates in the dishwasher this morning, I don’t need her to remember before I can get home and fix it.’ 

X

Nowadays Bernie and Serena often found themselves woken up on Saturday mornings by the clattering of pans, slamming of cupboard doors and excited chattering and laughing. 

It had become routine for big breakfasts to be made at their house on at least one weekend morning, with whoever drew the short straw and had worked the night shift meeting everyone else at Bernie and Serena’s.

‘What ever happened to, ‘Mum, Serena we’ll come over and make Jason breakfast, give you a morning sleep in?’’ Bernie rolled over to face Serena groaning at being woken up so early.

‘Oh, shush, you love it. You’re happier than you’ve ever been when all the kids are here,’ Serena’s point was proven by the massive smile that appeared on her face thinking about all the people she loved under one roof.

‘Yeah, yeah, of course you’re right. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take advantage of the time alone,’ Bernie’s grin turned decidedly seductive, leaning over to kiss away Serena’s matching smile.

X

Morven had great respect for both her bosses, Bernie had become a great mentor, in the same way Serena had become Jasmine’s, but on top of that Morven considered Serena as a sort of mother figure. 

An added bonus of her relationship with Cameron was having a new tangible link to Serena. 

Morven had often worried about her future in medicine, wanting to spread her wings and face new challenges, but didn’t want to lose her connections to her friends at Holby, a large part of which was Serena. Serena who had encouraged and nurtured her during her early time at Holby, Serena who had been a shoulder to cry on, or the person to buy her a drink in celebration. 

It was knowing she would still have both these important women in her life that gave her the confidence to look outside her comfort zone and reach for new goals.

X

Now with Jason and Charlotte living with them all, Elinor realised how much she would have loved to have had siblings. 

After the initial resentment of having new people taking her mother’s attention, she found she was able to interact with a newfound appreciation of them.   
She now always had someone to talk to. 

If Serena and Bernie were working late, Jason or Charlotte, or both would be there. When Elinor was recovering and didn’t often leave the house, on the days Charlotte didn’t have university she would hang around the house with Elinor or would take her out for the day, or she would spend the days watching quiz shows with Jason, laughing at his competitiveness and enjoying his unique sense of humour, and also found it helped her work on her comprehension.

For Serena and Bernie having their daughters with them had the added bonus of having someone else to take care of Jason’s schedule every once in a while, which meant Bernie and Serena were able to go out in the evenings, or work later without worrying about him, and sometimes have the luxury of coming home from a long shift and being able to completely relax.

X 

Sometimes Dom felt a little jealous that Morven, Jasmine and Cameron worked on the same ward. 

Was sad they got to be around each other all day, while he was worked alone a few floors up. Not that Dom didn’t sneak downstairs constantly to watch them all work, smiling at his ‘little ones’ learning and becoming better doctors. He knew he could watch them for hours, but the never eventuated because he was usually quickly spotted by Serena or Bernie and promptly sent back to Keller.

Despite this feeling of loneliness, he was glad to have a bit of a distance between his personal and professional life, given the way the Isaac situation had ended. After the turmoil working with his ex-boyfriend had caused, he felt better knowing he didn’t have to worry about personal arguments affecting his professional standing. 

X

Night’s out on the town become a common occurrence. 

All of the 'young ones’, Jasmine, Morven, Cameron, Dom, Charlotte, Elinor, and sometimes Jason, when it doesn’t interrupt his television schedule that is, would go out and stay out until the early morning, dancing and drinking, and enjoy being young. The seven of them well and truly bonded, all of them feeling more and more like family as time went on, feeling lucky to have forged these connections.

After their nights out, they usually found themselves catching taxi’s back to Bernie and Serena’s, passing out in the living room or the kitchen, much to the annoyance of Serena, who is constantly reminding them all that there are plenty of perfectly good beds in the house. 

The morning’s after had Bernie and Serena find their 'kids’ sprawled out around the house, some curled around each other, others sprawled out like starfish. It was these moments that made both of them smile and roll their eyes. 

Both women found it hard to believe this was truly their life, when less than eighteen months ago, both were essentially estranged from their children and wallowing in self-pity. 

Now they had found each other, and gained a few extra kids along the way, their family was now beyond what they ever would have expected.

**Author's Note:**

> would love to know what you think.


End file.
